Bernie Whitebear

Bernie Whitebear (September 27 1937 – July 16, 2000 [Reyes 2002, p. 78, 191.] ), birth name Bernard Reyes, [Reyes 2002, p. 78.] was an American Indian activist, a founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. [Reyes 2002, "passim", especially p. 186 "et. seq."]

Youth

Whitebear's mother, born Mary Christian, was Sin Aikst (now known as Lakes tribe, one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation); his father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way of life. Born in the Colville Indian Hospital in Nespelem, Washington, he was named "Bernard" after his great uncle (brother of his maternal grandmother), Chief James Bernard, a Sin Aikst leader in the early 20th century. [Reyes 2002, p. 38 "et. seq.", 78.] [McRoberts 2003 says he was born at Inchelium, Washington; Reyes indicates that is where the family was living at the time, but not the place of his brother's birth. Also, McRoberts says he was "one of six children of an Indian mother and Filipino father"; presumably he is including the half-siblings his mother later had with Harry Wong.] Around 1970, as he became an activist, he changed his name to honor his mother's father, Alex Christian, known as "Pic Ah Kelowna," "White Grizzly Bear". [Reyes 2002, p. 31 "et. seq.", 187.]

His early childhood was spent largely on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. His parents separated in 1939 and subsequently divorced; [Reyes 2002, p. 90.] his mother would later re-marry to Harry Wong, with whom she and Julian Reyes had, in 1935–1937, run a Chinese restaurant during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. [Reyes 2002, p. p. 74–75, 185, 194.] While his older brother Lawney Reyes and sister Luana Reyes attended the Chemawa Indian School in 1940–1942, he was too young to do so, and lived with foster grandparents, the Halls. [Reyes 2002, p. 93, 103.] The rest of his childhood and youth was spent living with his father, variously on the Colville Reservation and in Okanogan, Washington, [Reyes 2002, "passim".] where he graduated from high school in 1955. [Reyes 2002, p. 186.]

After attending one year of school at the University of Washington, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he served first in the 101st Airborne Division as a Green Beret paratrooper. [Reyes 2002, p. 186.]

Activist and leader

Returning to the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State, he became a friend of Bob Satiacum and others who were fighting for native fishing rights on the Puyallup River, a fight that they would eventually win when the 1974 Boldt Decision made the Washington's tribes co-managers of the state's fisheries. [Reyes 2002, p. 186–187.] Meanwhile, however, Whitebear had become more focused on issues directly affecting urban Indians. [Reyes 2002, p. 187.]

Around 1970, he changed his name to "Bernie Whitebear". At this time, Seattle's estimated 25,000 urban Indians had "no health services, no organization, no money and no meeting place except an old church on Boren Avenue". [Cate Montana, [http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=2504 Tireless advocate Bernie Whitebear mourned] , August 2, 2000, "Indian Country Today". Accessed online 12 March 2007.] In 1970, he founded the Seattle Indian Health Board, which he served as executive director. Shortly after this, he became heavily involved in the movement to make sure that Indians would gain a share of the land in Seattle that the federal government freeing up as they reduced the size of the Fort Lawton army post. On March 8, 1970, he was among the leaders of about 100 "Native Americans and sympathizers" who confronted military police in riot gear at the fort. The MPs ejected them from the fort, but they were able to establish an encampment outside the fort. Organizing as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), they used tactics ranging from politicking to occupation of land (with a parade of celebrity supporters such as Jane Fonda keeping them in the headlines). Negotiations, confrontation and even a Congressional intervention combined to give them a 99-year lease on 20 acres (81,000 m²) in what would become Seattle's Discovery Park. [Reyes 2002, p. 187.] [McRoberts 2003]

He resigned as executive director of the SIHB and was soon elected CEO of the UIATF. (His sister Luana Reyes became executive director of SIHB, which she built into a major institution, launching herself on a career path that ultimately led to the deputy directorship of National Indian Health Services.) [Reyes 2002, p. 185–186.] At UIATF, he successfully oversaw fundraising (including a million dollar grant from the state) and construction for what would become the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. His brother Lawney Reyes — a sculptor, designer, curator, and later memoirist [Reyes 2002, "passim", especially p. 181 "et. seq."] (as well as his biographer: "Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice", 2006) — joined with architects Arai Jackson to design the facility, which opened in 1977. [Reyes 2002, p. 187–188.]

Along with Bob Santos, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett, he became one of Seattle's so-called "Gang of Four" or "Four Amigos" who founded Seattle's Minority Executive Directors's Coalition. [ [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/maestas.htm Roberto Maestas] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington. Accessed 11 March 2007.] [Jamie Garner and Dorry Elias, "Bernie Whitebear: Elegy for a gone-but-never-forgotten activist", "Real Change" (Seattle's "homeless paper"), 15 August 2000.] [Reyes 2002, p. 188–189.] He continued to build the UIATF as an institution, with programs ranging from the La-ba-te-yah youth home in the Crown Hill neighborhood to the Sacred Circle Art Gallery at Daybreak Star, as well as a pre-school, family support programs, and a large annual pow-wow held every July. In addition, UIATF acquired other land in Seattle outside of Daybreak Star, including a quarter-block downtown at Second and Cherry. [Reyes 2002, p. 189.]

In 1995, he was appointed to the board of the National Museum of the American Indian, and was involved in the planning for the museum [Reyes 2002, p. 189.] that opened September 21, 2004 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. ["The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C." in [http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=collaboration&second=internships Internship Program] , National Museum of the American Indian. Accessed online 25 October 2007.] He was also involved in the early planning for two other projects, neither of which has been achieved as of 2007. A People's Lodge at Daybreak Star is intended to include a Hall of Ancestors, a Potlatch House, a theater, and a museum; [Reyes 2002, p. 190.] the Pacific Northwest Indian Canoe Center is intended as part of the ongoing development at South Lake Union, just north of downtown. [Reyes 2002, p. 190.] Whitebear's death impacted both of these projects. As of 2007, construction of the People's Lodge has been indefinitely postponed. [Aimee Curl, [http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-09-12/news/fort-lawton-freeze-tag.php Fort Lawton Freeze Tag] , "Seattle Weekly", September 12, 2007. Accessed online 25 October 2007.] A Native American Canoe Center is in the master plan for South Lake Union Park; [ [http://www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/LakeUnionPark/resolution30206.htm Lake Union Park City Council Resolution 30206] , City of Seattle official site. Introduced/referred July 10, 2000. Adopted July 17, 2000. Accessed online 25 October 2007.] as of 2007, it is being referred to as the Northwest Canoe Center. An October 2007 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation should allow this project (and several other UIATF projects) to proceed. [ [http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=191800024 Northwest Area Foundation Awards $3.5 Million to United Indians of All Tribes Foundation] , Northwest Area Foundation Press Release, 10 October 2007, posted by "Philanthropy News Digest", 15 October 2007. Accessed online 25 October 2007.]

Whitebear died of colon cancer, July 16, 2000. [McRoberts 2003]

Whitebear has been the subject of many tributes. One of the most unusual came from Washington governor Gary Locke, who in November 1997 declared him to be the state's First Citizen of the Decade, later remarking after Whitebear's death that it should have been "of the Century". [Reyes 2002, p. 191, 192.]

In memory of Whitebear, there is now a Bernie Whitebear Memorial Ethnobotanical Garden next to the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. [ [http://www.edcc.edu/afterwords/?p=22 Bernie Whitebear Ethnobotanical Memorial Garden] , AfterWords, Edmonds Community College, October 11, 2005. Accessed 12 March 2007.]

Notes

References

* Lawney L. Reyes, "White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian", University of Washington Press, 2002. ISBN 0-295-98202-0.
* Patrick McRoberts, [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5170 Whitebear, Bernie (1937-2000)] , HistoryLink.org Essay 5170, February 4, 2003. Accessed 12 March 2007.

Further reading

* Lawney L. Reyes, "Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice", University of Arizona, 2006. ISBN 0-816-52521-8. ISBN-13 978-0816525218.

External links

* [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/UrbanIndians.htm Urban Indians and Seattle's civil rights history] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, contains numerous oral histories, research reports, and other documents, many of which relate to Bernie Whitebear's life, including some of his own writings in "Indian Center News".
*Bernie Whitebear, [http://www.unitedindians.org/about_history_bernie.html A Brief History of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation] , written in 1994.
* [http://www.kcts.org/productions/kctsconnects/archive/episode_43.htm Year-End Tribute to Hazel Wolf, Jacob Lawrence, Alan Hovhaness, and Bernie Whitebear] , KCTS/Seattle television, December 28, 2000, includes video footage.